


Bonnie Banks

by InterPlanetary_Redacted



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Pendragon Returns (Merlin), Canon Era, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Major Character Death mentioned but not....important, Mentioned 2020 Rona, Merlin has had a lot of occupations since Camelot, Mostly Fluff, Post-Canon, just as a lil side "this is the current year we are in", kinda sad, two time periods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26463352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterPlanetary_Redacted/pseuds/InterPlanetary_Redacted
Summary: “If I could do anything, it would be to give you this life. But I cannot give you up to this life.”“I would not take this life without you, Arthur, you know that. You are my King, and I am loyal to you. But there is nobody’s side I would rather be at than yours, even if you were to banish me.”“You are my most Beloved, I could never send you away.”“And I could never leave without you. I do not know what I will do if one day I were forced to live without you. I would do everything to keep you.”//I listened to Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond about 500 times the past 3 days and was like "I'm not saying this seems like a perfect merthur idea....but it sounds like a perfect merthur idea" so Here We Are
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Kudos: 33





	Bonnie Banks

**Author's Note:**

> MCD references Arthur's death, but it isn't really explicit so I didn't see the need to tag it as such more than I already have, hope you enjoy!

Merlin couldn’t help but laugh as Arthur chased Merlin on their horses, Llamrei and Malle; they were nowhere near where they were planning to end up, but that was part of the fun of their trips. And, considering that this was likely going to be a while before they could take such a long trip again, they were making the most of it. 

They stopped after a while, making sure to be near a body of water so that Llamrei and Malle could take a drink while they ate. 

“Why-” Arthur grunted, wrapping his arms around Merlin’s waist from behind to lift him up slightly. “Are you so  _ infuriating _ ?” Merlin couldn’t help but laugh, even when his feet were back on the ground. 

Arthur didn’t let go, and Merlin couldn’t help turning to Arthur with the clear intention of licking his cheek, but Arthur may as well have seen it coming from a mile away with how often Merlin attempts it - it really only worked when he did it the first three times, and when Arthur was extremely tired still. 

Arthur has no idea how to cook, still, no matter how many times he asks Merlin to let him help. At this point Merlin is convinced that it isn’t even about how Arthur has been raised as a prince, it’s just something that comes from the very centre of his bones. So Arthur makes sure to set everything up without trying to do anything more related to it other than light the fire. 

Merlin liked the lack of structure that he had while on these trips - even on trips with the knights he isn’t always able to be so relaxed because every so often Arthur will be required to bring a new couple of knights. 

Arthur let Merlin lay on the ground until they were ready to go, knowing that Merlin did more than his fair share at the castle with both him and Gaius with general saving-Camelot-from-evil-sorcerers-and-magical-beasts in his free time; then he nudged Merlin to get up so they could get back on the path to the lake they were visiting. 

It was somewhere they had only been briefly, when Arthur had been required to “slay” a beast which Uther seemed to have a grudge against. 

Regardless, they hadn’t been there long but when Arthur asked where Merlin wanted to go (likely expecting him to choose a field or meadow or forest nearby as he always did), he had chosen the lake about a week away, smiling in the way that he knew Arthur wouldn’t say no to. 

“We’ve barely been out for two days, and I already don’t know how I’m going to manage two weeks with you,” Arthur tells him nonchalantly, smirking at him from the corner of his eye. 

Merlin couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “I don’t know how I’m going to manage cooking for you every day for two weeks when you complain about having the same thing three days in a row for dinner at the castle.” 

“I do not!” Arthur objected, mouth dropping open. 

Merlin tilted his head in concedement, smiling at him with an almost coy look. “Perhaps not, but I still don’t know if you’re going to be able to eat rabbit for a while when we get back.” 

“Well, there’s more choice back there, I doubt I’ll have to eat it for a couple of days. Plus we could probably get some fish from the lake?” 

“Maybe, we’ll see if there are any,” Merlin tells him. 

Luckily it’s summer, meaning that as long as they go at a relatively calm pace for the horses, then they can keep going up until sunset late in the evening and they reach the lake within five days total. 

That was slightly sooner than Merlin was expecting but, then again, Arthur did have them set off early in the morning before Uther could change his mind about letting Arthur leave. With his manservant. Who a large majority of the servants and knights  _ knew _ he didn’t have a platonic relationship with. 

They weren’t sure if Uther had heard the rumours, but Merlin knew that nobody who knew would outright tell him. Luckily for them, Arthur was more liked than his father, even without the increase of status, and largely without the same fear. At least, not unjust fear. So it was unlikely that somebody would tell Uther. The last time somebody - a girl from the laundry room, and Merlin still didn’t know if it was out of jealousy or misplaced righteousness - tried, she was threatened within an inch of her life at needlepoint by a seamstress assistant who worked as an apprentice for the Castle’s own. 

Merlin only witnessed it by accident, and he made sure to warn Arthur to never cross the girl if he wanted to remain pinhole-free. 

The sun was shining brightly when they arrived at midday of their fifth day, racing to get there for the last fifteen minutes. Arthur had gone across the higher path with Llamrei which was slightly shorter, while Merlin had taken Malle to their agreed winning point down the lower, smoother path. 

It was beautiful, how the sun was reflecting on top of the water, glittering in the ripples caused by waves. 

That didn’t change the argument they had over who had won their race, only ending when Merlin was attempting to climb some nearby rocks and had to use his magic to stabilize himself, unable to help but laugh at his own clumsiness. 

Arthur had offered, almost gallantly, to help him down by holding his hand out for Merlin to take, however Merlin simply grinned at him in return; taking the advantage of not being near Camelot, nor at risk of being discovered by others, Merlin felt his magic seeping both into and out of the rocks and ground below him, not using an incantation to float the rock he was standing upon down to Arthur’s level to accept his hand for the unneeded jump down. 

Arthur rolled his eyes, but he smiled at Merlin with how much more free he appeared with no need to look over their shoulders for chance of somebody catching them. 

Undeniably, there were people around that lived close, but they did not appear as anything other than mildly rich travellers, and nobody was at risk of reporting them to anybody. 

Merlin took the opportunity that Arthur wasn’t paying attention to him and only knew something was going to happen for the split second before a stream of water splashed in his face, warned by the flash of gold in Merlin’s eyes. 

The laugh that erupted from Merlin was something Arthur didn’t want to discourage, even as the other took the chance to begin running across the bank, easily being corralled by Arthur towards the water, where he could efficiently catch up and take him into the water. 

For hours they played, because that’s what it was, even if Arthur would otherwise deny doing something so childish in the future, and both were as soaked as the other by the end of it all. 

They were chest deep in the water when they began to calm down, still in most of their clothes - although they had discarded their boots and socks after the first fifteen minutes - Merlin clinging to Arthur’s neck with his hands and his waist with his thighs in a failed attempt to drag him under the water when Arthur was attempting to dunk him in the water. 

Merlin stared at Arthur; blond hair in his eyes, drops of water falling down his face, face flushed both from the chill of the water and exhilaration of their activities, blue eyes sparking just like the water surrounding them. He couldn’t help the sated sigh that left his mouth before he moved his hands slightly to cup Arthur’s jaw and lean forward to kiss him. 

Arthur’s hands moved from towards his ankles to his thighs to grip him more securely in place rather than pull him off as he’d been planning to, responding to Merlin’s mouth with ease, nudging his tongue towards Merlin’s lips. 

“I love you,” Merlin said, pulling away slightly. “But we should get out of the water for the evening, I’m tired.” 

“I love you too, but agreed,” Arthur agreed, smirk on his face. 

“Arthur…” Merlin warned, pointlessly as far as Arthur was concerned, finding the strength to move Merlin so he was positioned over his shoulder, quick enough that Merlin couldn’t easily object, since he knew better than to protest Arthur carrying him like this around the water. “So annoying,” he huffed, not even attempting to hold himself further than moving his head when necessary so it wasn’t getting caught by water as they - Arthur - walked. 

“And you’re an idiot,” Arthur responded easily, shrugging the shoulder Merlin was on, deliberately, just proving Merlin’s point as far as he was concerned. 

“Tomorrow you’re going to have to go hunting,” Merlin told him as they reached the shore. 

“You tell me that like I don’t already know,” Arthur says, still not taking Merlin from his shoulder as he walked towards Llamrei and Malle, where they’d set their packs. 

“I have to check these things, you might forget otherwise,” Merlin sighs, lamenting. 

“Considering you’re the one who forgets to do half of his chores and has to hastily complete them with magic in my rooms right before I get back from the day, I don’t think you’re one to be saying about forgetfulness.” 

“Usually I have to save your ungrateful backside from some threat you don’t learn about until I tell you when you get back,” Merlin pouts, which Arthur knows, even if he himself can’t see it, and has to concede to that point. 

“Maybe. But that’s only in recent months, you were an even more terrible manservant in the beginning.” 

“Well, I didn’t like you,” Merlin admits, yelping when Arthur unceremoniously drops him onto the grass, glaring when Arthur stands above him with a smug look on his face. 

“Well I didn’t like the mouthy little bugger you were either.” 

“I’ve been taller than you since we met, so what does that say about you?” Merlin grinned, rolling out of the way from the boot which was aimed towards his ribs. Gently or not, Merlin wasn’t about to let him have the jab easily. “We should get camp set up,” Merlin distracted him. “Go fetch firewood.” 

“Don’t tell me what to do, I’m the crown prince here.” But Merlin could see the indulgent smile that was peaking out, though he wasn’t going to outright mention it to him. 

“Not here you’re not.” 

Merlin didn’t think he’d ever felt so relaxed. It wasn’t as though the environment was particularly entrenched in magic, and as far as he was aware, there were no druid camps nearby, and overall there was nothing so different about the place than the country surrounding Camelot. 

Maybe it  _ was _ just the ability to be free and open with both his love of Arthur and his magic. That it was beautiful was just a benefit. 

Something as simple as getting their camp unpacked with magic, not needing words, or flashing his eyes to start a fire with a muttered phrase that was more out of habit than anything else. 

As such, Merlin got done with his task much sooner than Arthur did and was watching the waves lap against the banks when he arrived back, setting down their firewood before joining Merlin with a slight huff of his own at the seeming difficulty levels of their assigned tasks. 

Arthur buried his face into Merlin’s hair, nuzzling slightly, listening the same as Merlin to everything around them. 

A secret that Merlin knew that Arthur wouldn’t admit to was his musical ability - never really supported by Uther, Arthur had told him, for obvious reasons - so when Merlin started humming under his breath, he was unsurprised when Arthur joined in with an accompanying harmony with ease. To their endless tune they danced, Arthur guiding Merlin in simple movements, knowing the other would do nothing but fall over his own feet if he were to take the lead. 

Eventually it was almost dark and Merlin thought to make their food. 

“We probably won’t be able to come back here,” Arthur whispered once they laid down to sleep. 

“I know,” Merlin replied, allowing Arthur to pull him close so he felt better about Merlin’s safety - habit after so long being the protective one around everybody else. 

“I wish we could stay for longer.” 

“I wish we could too. I still sometimes dream that we could run away - not to Ealdor, but somewhere like it: somewhere we can be anonymous and just live, no need to worry about anything past whether the harvest will be enough to see us through the winter.” 

“We could have a dog.” 

“And some chickens.” 

“A cat for catching mice.” 

Arthur can’t help but sighing, closing his eyes tightly with his forehead pressed to Merlin’s at the thought of having a peaceful life with him, somewhere like here, far enough away that they’re not easily found, but not so far that they can’t hear any news should they be needed. Somewhere beautiful that Merlin could be so carefree and happy all of the time. But he was serious. This was likely to be the only trip like this that they can do until years after his crowning, depending on what the outlook is like. 

“If I could do anything, it would be to give you this life. But I cannot give you up to this life.” 

“I would not take this life without you, Arthur, you know that. You are my King, and I am loyal to you. But there is nobody’s side I would rather be at than yours, even if you were to banish me.” 

“You are my most Beloved, I could never send you away.” 

“And I could never leave without you. I do not know what I will do if one day I were forced to live without you. I would do everything to keep you.” 

Arthur could see Merlin’s eyes drooping in sleep, unable to resist the pull the night brings, stroking his hair as he drifted further. 

* * *

_ “Have I ever said,” Arthur struggled, cupping Merlin’s cheek with the faintest of touches, causing him to lean into it, searching for warmth which just wasn’t there, “thank you?”  _

_ His hand dropped, but Merlin had to keep going, had to get him to the lake.  _

_ Kilgharrah was there, now, but there was nothing either could do.  _

_ “I failed him.”  _

_ “I can’t lose him!”  _

_ “Some lives have been foretold.”  _

_ “Once and Future King.”  _

_ “Arthur will rise again. It has been a privilege to know you, young Warlock.”  _

_ Magic carried the sword to middle of the lake from his throw.  _

_ Freya’s hand grabbed it.  _

_ He was crying - sobbing, really.  _

_ His true love was gone. _

_ In a boat to Avalon.  _

* * *

Merlin gasped awake. 

The nightmare had haunted him for centuries, but- 

Nightmare is not accurate. Memory. Memories. They’re his last moments with Arthur. Heart wrenching, he could have torn his soul from his being with the power he felt coursing through him in anger. Anger at himself and Mordred, undeniably. 

Why hadn’t he given Arthur his opinion that they should consider speeding up the process of legalising magic? Then Mordred would never have felt the need to turn against them for Kara. But Mordred did not  _ have _ to turn against them. 

_ But then, what would you have done had Arthur being killed by your friend who could have changed the rules? _

His inner voice sounds suspiciously like Kilgharrah despite his centuries-long death, and Merlin has to both give the voice credit but also point out:  _ that is what happened _ . 

Arthur had left him the brooch of his mother to state him as Heir once he died, and that had been years before his death. It had the duel purpose of his most precious item being given to his most precious person (“Even if they can be an idiot more often than not,”) but giving him the power to rule in his steed. 

And Merlin had ruled. He’d allowed people in and out as they pleased, legalising magic for the short time that it was still common, but in the end Camelot was abandoned by most except the most loyal, and easy to allow to fall into disrepair. At least, from an outside appearance. 

There were myths, he knew, about who he and Arthur were as well as the knights, and Merlin had all of his tales written in books written in a language not truly spoken any longer, and then another book where he writes the most ludicrous recollections he has heard, from his Dragoon the Great being what he actually look like, or the delusional idea that he was married to Morgana. 

As far as any of the common public were concerned, Camelot and it’s castle are a myth, while researchers are led on a goose chase of places it certainly is not. 

Camelot itself is gone, but the castle still stands, protected by Merlin’s magic and the magic of the Earth itself. 

It is not in bad condition, as such as everything being in stasis since Merlin is frankly unwilling to go around every room and clean it every ten years or so as needed. 

Animals can get into the small land surrounding it, but not into the castle, while humans are unable to get a view of it at all, boundaries too far with illusions to show nothing of interest and enchantments to ensure anybody doesn’t get the wrong idea to get close at any rate. 

Merlin hasn’t met anybody with any sort of tangible magic for almost seven hundred years, while all manner of beasts and creatures were taken by the sidhe to their land to keep them protected from the evolving world, at two hundred years prior to that. 

The nightmare would pop up occasionally regardless of the time of year, but it was always more prolonged and vivid near the date of Arthur’s death. 

In the beginning, when the pain was still raw for a hundred years, he would visit Lake Avalon every year and work his way through his emotions every year, tell Arthur about what had happened - first at the castle, and then on his travels. 

After that, it was still as painful but less raw, and there wasn’t really much for him to say when he spent half the year travelling away from the Lake before coming back. 

So he visits every ten years, and keeps a journal or two of the important things, or the things which Arthur may like, and he sits at the lake edge to tell him everything from it. 

He did not like telling Arthur of the wars which occurred and involved Great Britain, or the amount of horrible things he had seen, worse than a simple beheading or hanging, and that it has made him physically sick. 

Sometimes he is late because he has an important - not job, because he never works for anybody and it isn’t obligatory in that sense but perhaps - moral obligation to help people in need. 

Merlin vastly enjoyed his time spent on the seas as a pirate, because it almost made him feel that same freedom he did around Arthur again. 

He wrote music, as he found it to be the easiest way to keep stories; although it’s hardly a surprise, considering the amount of tales Bards told of Arthur at one point. 

He typically always sings something while he’s there, and he knows he can carry a tune because as much as Arthur would tease him, nothing sent him to sleep faster on a stressful night than Merlin trying to remember the lyrics to some bardic performance and ending up just making his own to the remembered tune. 

Some days, it was too painful to get out of bed, but he always did on the anniversary, even as the way they kept time had changed. 

His magic always became antsy when it was coming up. 

Sometimes he would go through places, modern now, but remember what once was there. 

One place that hadn’t changed was his and Arthur’s lake. 

It was the last real trip they had with each other, just them, with them free to act and speak as they please, despite how much he adored all of the other knights when they came. 

It was the place which had changed the least that he visited the most aside from Lake Avalon. 

Merlin was more than lucky, he thought, after everything he had seen, that he was able to live as freely as he did back when he was Regent. More so, actually, with his ability to travel as and when he liked. But the money, that hadn’t changed, as he had been smart to invest in businesses that were profitable from the very start, as well as saving money through generations. 

At this point, he didn’t really  _ have _ to do anything, but he was the owner of an “old-fashioned” tavern called The Sun Rises, just out of sheer nostalgia. The property had technically been his for a couple of centuries and had been through multiple renovations, but he typically changed the name each time. 

However, some things he was glad to never truly change, such as his cottage by the lake. 

It was as protected as Camelot, if not more so since some of the magic he felt came from the island itself. 

Understandable, really. 

Now, in the year 2020, when he was “forced” to close (honestly not that much of a hardship for him, for which he knows he’s lucky) he’s able to spend all of his time at the cottage, except for the few times he needs internet access for some reason. 

It was slightly difficult to begin with, being surrounded by everything he thought to keep from his years in Camelot, including his original clothing, kept away and never looked at. 

Every year, however, he would get out his cloak from his time as Regent, it was red, threaded with gold, but lined with one of Arthur’s red knight cloaks, to put it over his everyday clothes. 

_ By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes, _

_ Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond, _

_ Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae, _

_ On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond. _

Their lake had had few names, but the most recent was the one which he wrote into the song. 

Loch Leamhain was now Loch Lomond, and the melody of the song was one he would never forget since it became his own lullabye back in Camelot, hummed by Arthur when he was tired or injured from defending them. 

_ O ye'll tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road, _

_ And I'll be in Scotland a'fore ye, _

_ But me and my true love will never meet again, _

_ On the bonnie, bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond. _

This song was the most painful for him to sing, because it made everything feel so raw, but he couldn’t help but love the memories it brought back for him. 

Merlin had not loved another in the way that he loved Arthur. He’d adopted children, had brothers in arms, and subordinates/staff, but he had never loved a person the way he loved and longed for Arthur, even after over a thousand years. 

_ 'Twas there that we parted, in yon shady glen, _

_ On the steep, steep side o' Ben Lomond _ _ , _

_ Where in soft purple hue, the highland hills we view, _

_ And the moon coming out in the gloaming. _

His time at that lake is still what he classes as one of his happiest memories. 

It wasn’t cold currently, but it was habit now to curl his arms around his knees, cloak being held closed around himself, eyes closed tightly as he continued singing to the quiet lake. 

Merlin unintentionally cut himself off when he almost chokes on his tongue when, upon opening his eyes because of the irregular noise of the waves, he could see Arthur dripping water from everywhere on himself, clothing heavy and armour still-polished, stood on the shore of the lake, not ten feet from him. 

Merlin couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he scrambled onto his feet, legs becoming shaky as he walked closer, almost stumbling in the few steps it took to reach his love, his King. 

“Arthur,” he couldn’t say anything else. 

“Merlin.” Apparently Arthur couldn’t say anything else either. 

They stared at each other, unable to stop staring at one another, not quite touching despite how close their faces were. 

Merlin shook himself when a new breeze swept through the shore. 

“We need to get you inside,” he realised, managing to move his legs, grabbing Arthur’s forearm and pulling him, making sure to steady him when he almost stumbled. 

For once, he was more than thankful that he hadn’t updated the decor of his cottage so that it wasn’t too different than what Arthur was used to. 

They needed to get him changed out of wet clothes, and maybe it was a little weird that he had kept Arthur’s clothes - not all of them, just some of their favourite pieces. And recreated some of them when they were becoming more threadbare. 

_ Regardless _ , he had some clothes which Merlin knew would fit Arthur. 

Neither of them said anything the entire time when Merlin fell back into the age-old routine of undressing Arthur even if it had been fifteen-hundred years since he had done this last. 

Merlin also made sure to grab a towel so that he could dry Arthur’s hair after he changed into a pair of pyjamas himself. A spark and the hearth was filled and heating up the room as he settled the pair of them on the floor beside it. 

Merlin didn’t know what to do other than hold his hands and sit with their knees touching. 

Arthur clearly didn’t have a full awareness of what was going on at the moment, and Merlin can’t blame him because he knows that feeling at times. 

He did come back to himself within an hour or two though - Merlin had really no sense of time, less so than usual since nobody else was good at it at the time. 

“Merlin.” It was barely a breath, but Arthur shifted slightly, moving his arms so that he could grab Merlin around the waist and pull him onto his lap, placing his head in the space between Merlin’s neck and shoulders, breathing his scent in deeply and allowing himself to become more relaxed and aware of his surroundings. “I missed you?” He sounds unsure, but Merlin doesn’t know what he’s experienced or currently feeling, not really. “I don’t- really understand? I wasn’t aware but I think I missed you.” 

“I missed you too,” Merlin says, reveling in the ability to do as much and feel a response in the hitch of the body so close to his. “So  _ much _ ,” Merlin squeezed his shoulders. 

“Time’s passed.” 

“Yeah.” 

“You sound weird.” 

Merlin can’t help the chuckle that he lets out. “I suppose I have not spoken our tongue often enough to not speak weird,” he grins. His being feels whole again, in a way that he hadn’t realised he had been missing. Had he truly felt so incomplete for hundreds of years? Perhaps content, all these years, was an overestimation. “We should go to sleep. Come on, you’ll love my bed, it’s fully a feather mattress  _ and _ pillows  _ and  _ duvet.” 

“That’s no different than I’m used to,” Arthur rolls his eyes. 

“You’d be surprised,” Merlin told him. 

Merlin had  _ tried _ memory foam, and it was relatively nice, but it wasn’t the same, so he stuck to what he was used to - but better, because there were more than their bed had; it was undoubtedly better than the straw mattresses that he had before sharing a bed with Arthur. 

He made sure to push Arthur onto the bed first, reveling in the warmth that spread when Arthur groaned. Maybe he should be slightly worried about Arthur being tired enough to want to sleep after what would essentially be a fifteen hundred year sleep,  _ but _ he could always check him over tomorrow when he woke up instead. 

“Okay, you were right.” 

“Of course I was. Things aren’t necessarily better in the future all the time, but some of their products are great. And, alright, I did this myself when I was bored so I could tailor it to my own desire and to fill up time - you would not believe how many things you can find to make when it comes to having fifteen hundred years of free time. I mean, essentially. Kind of.” 

“You can tell me about it tomorrow,” Arthur muttered, closing his eyes after he got under the covers, Merlin now following him. 

“Yeah, sounds good.” 

Merlin couldn’t stop staring. He never really had those dreams where Arthur was back and they were living an ordinary life, as much as theirs could be, but the few times he had, ended with them going to sleep and him waking alone. 

“Stop staring, I’m not going to disappear.” 

“Okay.” 

Merlin didn’t stop. 

Arthur sighed, but Merlin could hear the fondness in it as Arthur forcibly moved him so that his back was against Arthur’s chest. 

“Sleep,” he commanded, as easily as he did when he was King, but as kindly as when they were alone together. 

So, for Merlin, it didn’t feel like the past centuries without him had happened, because it felt just like their bed in Camelot, in the position they would often sleep in together, and Arthur was out faster than Merlin could blink. 

When he closed his eyes and once again recognised that inner peace and warmth, he knew that this was real and Arthur would be there when he woke up. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this, I probably (most likely) won't write a sequel and if I do it may be 2 years down the line completely out of the blue and unprompted so don't keep your hopes up for it. Follow me on tumblr, Interplanetarygirl there too, or whatever my current username is here since I usually keep them the same, and over there you'll find my insta as well, please comment/kudos, and anything past here will be Fun Facts About Writing This: 
> 
> Like I said, I based the idea after listening to Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond 500 times, with the implied implied/stated idea that Merlin wrote it - but it was never published SO I was considering having a short scene where somebody heard them call it the Bonnie Banks and that's what it became known as in the area and that they go back there after 1500 years and the tale is that "two young male lovers called it the Bonnie Banks and that it is said if you listen close enough you can hear them playing in the water and dancing to their own endless tune" so idk maybe I'll do a shoooort 500 word sequel. Ugh I'm probably going to eventually. Meh. Have it as a short second chapter. 
> 
> Anyway! I discovered it would take about 88 hours on foot to get to Loch Lomond from where I decided to host Camelot. I could have chosen Raglan Castle area however I was like "Arthur is the crown prince and wouldn't get that much time off, and it would take a while to get there, also I don't want it there" so I chose the area around Alyn Valley bc looking at pictures I was like "looks similar enough to the show, and also about the same distance from the border between Wales and England", but Loch Lomond is in Scotland so I had to be generous in the time I gave them since I don't actually know what kind of travel issues they may have? So yeah. Also, just for reference, Loch Leamhain is pronounced Loch LEF-in apparently, please correct me if I'm wrong, before Loch Lomond. 
> 
> In this, Merlin has held the "jobs" of Bard (I mean this so loosely, but he would try to actually perform as little as possible bc he liked keeping his music to himself), Pirate, Tavern Owner, Head of an Orphanage,Teacher, probably Nanny at some point, and worked as his own person to take out people he found to be unethical, also I decided that Merlin was one of those pirates who helped free slaves. He definitely keeps up with his medical education as needed, and worked as a Doctor during the World Wars bc I don't want him to be a soldier. I basically just kinda pictured him as doing a bunch of similar things to the guys in The Old Guard but with some more mundane jobs thrown in. At one point he owned an orchard - I'm gonna stop there before I just start making stuff up as I go. 
> 
> Finally, Arthur was disassociating for that hour or two where they did nothing in front of the fire, something I expect Merlin has experienced so much of because he is 1500 years old and what's to stop him disassociating for a collective 650 years? I didn't wanna kill off all the beasts and magical creatures so yeah, the Sidhe took them to give them time to live still idk. 
> 
> Llamrei is one of Arthur's horses and I couldn't find a name for Merlin's so I used Malle which is a medieval diminutive of Mary and I honestly almost went with Matty but it was a close call. 
> 
> If you read this much, then thanks! I appreciate it! Tell me your thoughts on my thoughts or message me on tumblr if that's more comfortable/preferable, like I said @interplanetary-redacted * or if that's changed then whatever my username on here is. This is actually only my second Merlin fic and the first one is a meh modern AU that I hope this is better than considering I was like 15 when I wrote that? I just checked and no I was 14 so it has been 6 years, I would like to think I've improved since then! Look forward to hearing from you! 
> 
> (Also the version I listened to on repeat for writing more than half of this is by Ella Roberts)  
> *edited 22/10/2020


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